Planning to stem abuses has been stepped-up in the wake of the arrest of a former parish priest

Archbishop Luc Ravel meeting with parishioners after Sunday Mass at Saint Ulrich's church at Morschwiller-le-Bas on November 25. (Photo by Vincent Voegtlin/L'alsace/MaxPPP)

An archbishop is the Alsace region of eastern France has participated in a series of Sunday Masses following the shock arrest of a former parish priest on child rape charges.

Archbishop Luc Ravel of Strasbourg and his vicar-general, Father Jean-Luc Liénard, attended liturgies at two different parishes led by Father Robert Bonan in an effort to address parishioners’ concerns in the wake of the pastor's Nov. 20 arrest.

"I thank you for being here because you could easily have fled," Archbishop Ravel told parishioners at the Masses that were slightly better attended than usual.

He spoke of the priest's arrest and imprisonment awaiting trial, but did dwell on the trauma being experienced by parishioners.

Archbishop Ravel seeks assistance

"First, I ask you to keep the faith," the archbishop said.

"We can only get through this trouble with prayer.

"While it is possible to have blind confidence in Jesus, we also need to remember that the church is made up of sinners," he said.

Archbishop Ravel invited parishioners to work with the diocese for the implementation over the coming year of a code of good conduct to "restore children's confidence.”

This process, which will include many local meetings, is already being planned following the publication in September of the archbishop's pastoral letter on the abuse crisis, entitled 'Mieux vaut tard' (Better late than never.)

"We, the Church and bishops, have lacked prudence," Ravel said.

Allowing priests to go out with young people alone, for example, had been highly imprudent.

"We need a road map to guide them," he said.

The archbishop called on parishioners to collaborate with the police investigation of Father Bonan.

"If you have anything to say, please do so, even if it is complicated, imprecise or if it involves emotional relationships," he said.

“I urge to you to speak out. The Church will come through this much more beautiful," he continued.

"In recent years, in the Church, we have spoken a great deal of love and mercy and not much about truth," Archbishop Ravel lamented.

"That is what I wanted to hear -- that he is on the victims' side," said a woman after one of the Masses.

She said that that she had been feeling "overwhelmed" as if a steamroller had hit her.

Standing with the victims

According to prosecutors, the serious charges against Father Bonan resulted from alleged incidents during the 1980s and 1990s within the framework of the then parish priest's pastoral activities.

A three-month investigation was launched after an initial complaint, which followed the suicide this European summer of an alleged victim, although neither Archbishop Ravel nor prosecutors have drawn a direct link.

Some reported incidents occurred outside of a legal time limit for the laying of charges.

Mass participants said they were very surprised about the allegations being probed and the charging of Father Bonan.

"He baptized my nephew, a godson, buried my grandparents, married friends," said one tearful young man in the town of Lutterbach.

"His homilies were so beautiful. I feel betrayed, dirtied. I needed to come to Mass to feel more at peace," the man said.

Others more reserved

"It is a great suffering and I do not want to judge," said Julien, a highly emotional 84-year-old choir member.

"It's not my role to understand what he did or not do; and Jesus, as we know, came for sinners. Any one of us can fall, so I am certainly praying for this priest," he added

A sacristan queried: "We had no suspicions about him at all, so what can we say?"

Awareness for children

Regularly during Sunday Masses, children meet for a faith awakening service.

This time, however, the animator took the opportunity to speak on child protection.

Meanwhile, catechists in the Alsace region plan to meet to discuss the issue.

After Mass on Sunday, Archbishop Ravel dined with pastoral animation teams from various parish communities to discuss their problems and map out strategies to stem abuses.

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